#i had ryuji yusuke and haru on my team

[samarecharm]

Cant believe they wont let me farm that fucking teddy bear

[vashtijoy]

Hi! Do you think the tracksuit Goro wears, when they all meet up at school, belongs to Ren or was there another way he got it somehow?

This one's just a little bit complicated. In this 1/11 meeting, all the Shujin kids are in their ordinary winter uniforms, while all three visitors are in school tracksuits.

who's wearing what

First of all, unless they did something weird like buying tracksuits, or unless Makoto liberated them from school stores, we can probably guess who lent what to whom:

Futaba is probably wearing Haru's tracksuit, since Haru is the second-smallest;

Ryuji p...robably lent Yusuke his tracksuit;

Which leaves only Ren to lend a tracksuit to Akechi.

You could reverse those last two, of course—maybe Ren offers Yusuke his tracksuit, and Ryuji reluctantly steps up. He is quite aggressive about including Akechi, as a rule—"And you? Sound good?" @minkhollow42 also points out that as a former track team member, Ryuji might have multiple tracksuits.

So it depends which you like. Personally, I like the callback to conf 3 we get, if Akechi is wearing Ren's clothes.

who invited akechi

On 1/10, after Lavenza's phone call, Makoto says she'll figure out "how to get Yusuke and Futaba into the school". Someone's missing, huh? And yet there Akechi is, all the same. So there are a few possibilities:

Makoto remembered him, invited him, and arranged a tracksuit for him. (not out of the question)

Ren invited him. and slipped him his tracksuit between the 1/10 and 1/11 scenes.

One of the other PTs invited him, and arranged for him to borrow Ren's tracksuit.

After Akechi was invited, he arranged his own tracksuit. We can probably rule this one out.

While I like the idea of Ren inviting him, I also like the idea that Makoto had an attack of conscience—it would be like her. But honestly, I don't think either of these two options are my favourite.

Take a look at Akechi's line of sight, as he says "I didn't think you'd invite me":

Where's he looking? Across the room, at Haru and Futaba. Is it just a side-effect of the model's position? Possibly, but then Haru is the first to reply to him, as if he was addressing her directly. He's also turned just a little away from camera (towards the chair where Lavenza will appear), making it look as if he's facing Haru rather than Futaba. From a dev perspective, Akechi, Haru and Futaba have been placed so that they visually confront each other.

After the 1/10 discussion where Haru and Futaba have their veto on Akechi joining the team, it seems unlikely Akechi would ever have been invited without their being asked. So something went on behind the scenes, which resulted in Akechi being there in that tracksuit (which, yes, is probably Ren's).

wheels within wheels

Also, in case you ever wondered how much Akechi knows about the Velvet Room... notice how he's the only one seriously startled when Lavenza appears, with his little ?! there:

He's the only one who hasn't met Lavenza, of course. But he also reacts before he sees her—as if he doesn't have a context for anything mysterious and blue.

revision history

click here for the latest version.

v1.1 (2023/10/21)—ryuji might have multiple tracksuits.

v1.0 (2023/10/21)—first published.

[symphonic-scream]

Here's a post about my first au of 2024

P4 parents of P5 au (this needs a shorter title goddamn)

So it's. The Phantom Thieves are raised by the Investigation Team. Simple as that

Yu and Yosuke adopt Akira at age 5, after his parents give him up for being too much trouble. He loves his aunt Nanako, and uncle Teddie, and will eventually inherit the Narukami Family Secret; the rizz.

Chie and Yukiko end up raising two thieves, Ann and Ryuji. Ryuji's father is in jail for killing his mom, and originally the Takamaki's adopted him. Then, they got too busy with work. Chie and Yukiko fostered the two together for a year before officially adopting them at 3. They know they're not related but they're still brother and sister, and Ryuji dyes his hair this time to match his sister, after other Inaba kids make comments about her "foreigner hair"

Kanji is with Naoki in this one. You know, Saki's brother. The King's of the shopping district foster little Haru after her father is caught in an insider trading scandal, and she's adopted officially at 4 after 2 years. She's always got the cutest little dresses, which Kanji makes for her all the time. And, Naoki with his curly hair making sure Haru's curls are well cared for

Then. I had this in another au but. Naoto and Rise adopt baby Makoto, which is the incident that sparks the mass child acquiring among their friends. Sae visits from the city where she's studying, but yeah.

And, Wakaba and Sojiro? They run away before Wakaba is killed. They bring little Futaba to Inaba, move when she's like, 4, and find little orphan Yusuke along the way. They take in Goro after finding out he's Futaba's half brother when he's 12, so they've got the most Thieves Per Household (TPH)

It's got so many good little bits for it. Childhood Friends phantom thieves, the IT watching their kids grow up and be besties too, and. EVERYONE HAVING GOOD FAMILYS DAMNIT THEY DESERVE TO HAVE A GOOD HOME TO RETURN TO EACH NIGHT

Now, some little things I have for this au

Ryuji and Makoto were on the same youth soccer team in elementary school. Chie would pick Makoto up and Rise would drop Ryuji off after, and it starts the life long Jock Friends thing they have going. When they're at Yasogami, after sports clubs they go up to the roof and ramble about their gay crushes together

Haru and Akira are both part timers at Leblanc, which opens in the shopping district in one of the empty lots in the North end. Kanji and Naoki were betting about which of their shops she'd want to work at and both lost

Ann joining the Yasogami drama club, crushing on Shiho and so upset that she's in Ryuji's class instead of Ann's, being unafraid to tell her parents about liking girls because. They're lesbians, Harold

Goro, newly adopted, emo twelve year old, and. Futaba (10) and Yusuke (11) stare at him and decide that despite him being the oldest, they will call him Little Brother. Cause. He's the newest.

Sleepovers at the Inn, playing down by the Samegawa, just. So many good things. Comfort au.

[argentsunshine]

I am so crazy about the idea of Ann being Ryuji's sun confidant as there is something so wholesome there and um yes please speak of this Ryuji wild card au!! The UI screens you made are so freaking cool

yeah i wanted to shift people around the arcanas to make things more interesting and i let my Loving Ann Takamaki brain choose. also its a Thing that ann and ryuji share to me when I'm writing them -- a general sense of fun/levity/looking on the bright side that other more generally anxious or cynical members of the thieves don't share

(all this for ann being boosted by having shiho around and healthy)

i have arcana for some people and not others - i might make more confidant screens if people are interested! the only thief i probably will leave in their original arcana is futaba. some are kind of weird fits for their canon arcana anyway (yusuke is emperor because he's....... a guy in your team???? who didn't have an obvious arcana?) some had to change because au (ryuji and akira obviously, and the fool-magician relationship (bestfriendship? partnership, even?) in persona feels like enough of a Thing that i felt like akira Had to be the magician to Ryuji's fool, so i had to move mona, etc, etc.)

so the thieves are ryuji fool, akira magician, ann sun, shiho chariot, futaba hermit, makoto justice, yusuke undecided but maybe temperance?, mona star, haru undecided but maybe lovers?, akechi probably tower (persona wants to make the tower arcana lame so badly but i won't fall for it)

and the ui screens were a lot of fun I'm now thinking about how I'd do them for other thieves... i think it's pretty obvious ryujis is based on his all out attack finishing touch with graffiti and comic book influences. it hurts my eyes which i consider task completed

[the-phantom-officianados]

Dino or regular chicken nuggets? I need everyone's opinion including favorite sauce

well it should be obvi butttt ryuji and i are team dino ( ˙▿˙ )

they are obviously superior (¬‿¬ )

even if i think everyone else is yucky for drowning them in those sauces....

☆ futaba 🛸

(hoo boy, long post)

Taba is completely right! Why eat regular boring ole chicken when you could be eating dinosaurs? but I gotta say shes wrong about the sauce thing, nothin better than some ketchup and nuggets.

☆ ryuji ⚡️

As long as there is chicken that I am allowed to consume, I do not care what form it takes, even if the dinosaurs are more aesthetically appealing.

The same goes for sauces, I just wish to have one so that I do not dehydrate.

☆ Yusuke 🎐

Chicken Strips you disgusting children. I am not seven I am a man.

Also Honey Barbecue. It's objectively superior.

☆ Akechi 🪦

It's still a little recent for me, since I just had them recently, but I've quite enjoyed the Dinosaurs that Futaba-chan and I have shared, even if I have to be careful not to drop any of my ketchup on hers.

☆ Sumire 🎭

I hate to agree with Akechi Goro of all people, but I prefer chicken strips as well, the nuggets are horribly unhealthy and made of just scraps.

As for sauces, I am quite the fan of cool ranch.

☆ Makoto 📚

I do not care, I'm in Yusuke's camp, I'll eat whatever Ryuji decides we're eating, most of the time that means the dinosaurs, although he did buy race cars recently.

I have a homemade extra hot garlic sauce that I've been fancying lately, but I think I might pour the leftover curry on my next plate, that might taste interesting.

☆ Akira 'Don't let him near your food' Kurusu 🗡️

I don't mind either, technically I should totally cut them out of my diet since they aren't the healthiest thing ever, buttttttt I'm all for getting totally wild with the group.

☆ Ann 🌺

There are nuggets in the forms of dinosaurs?

☆ Haru 🩰

A real gentlemen eats only the finest foods, no time for pathetic things like dino nuggets or other sad kinds of chicken! I eat the nicest, richest, most delectable fatty tunas only!

☆ Morgana 🐈‍⬛

[haejjoon]

I am so sorry for the novel this ask is. I am just very passionate about this lajslama

you know I will never understand atlus' mistreatment of ryuji. like how every character just belittles him into being too dumb and incompetent to make decisions or even give his input. people forget that without ryuji wanting to go back to kamoshida's palace to help the volleyball team the phantom thieves would've never formed. he has such a strong desire to help/protect those he cares about and would risk his life to do so. like he helps the volleyball team despite all of them thinking of him as nothing more than a delinquent. he helps his old track team even though they shunned him and blamed the team disbanding on him instead of kamoshida. he jumps in front of a car just so they can get to Makoto and help her despite the fact she was blackmailing the thieves and the treat of going to jail. he is such a kind and considerate person and people ignore that fact just cause what? he's loud and has a temper? he doesn't make some of the best decisions? I mean so what? he's a teenager, what teenager makes all the right calls all the time? what adult does that? like people forgive Makoto so easily for her threatening everyone with jail time and how she literally threatened their lives by charging into kaneshiro's hideout, but won't do it for ryuji cause he gets pissed off and treats morgana badly. and he had every right to be angry at Mona cause he has done nothing but drag ryuji through the ground since day 1. he was never even given a chance. the only one who does is akiren but even then you have the option to be a dick to him

I hope that all made sense, I'm just rambling about my thoughts on ryuji. he's always been one of my favorite characters cause I relate to him a lot. and like... with the shit after shido's palace I had to take a break from the game for a couple of hours cause I was so angry. like he just saved all the thieves lives and they beat the shit outta him????? and for what??? he didn't know they thought he died?? I'm so sorry I'm rambling again alsjlamska

ANOTHER RYUJI ASK LETS GOOOOOO

wholeheartedly agree with your points anon ryuji is treated SO badly by the plot and the entirety of the cast. the fact that the girls beat him up and leave him slumped over on the street is irritating as all hell. i won't lie i did laugh a bit when the moment itself happened, but then they left and didn't tell him thank you or anything at the end and i was like wh. whh?? WHUH????? UR LEAVING HIM THERE???? NO GO BACK.

ive always imagined that the reason why mona ribs on ryuji so much is due to his own inferiority complex. he can't put ann down because yknow. akira's the leader, yusuke's the creative mind. makoto, futaba, and akechi are too smart for him to put down, and haru's too sweet for him to say a single bad thing about her. the only one left to take the brunt of his bitterness is ryuji, so he attacks him to keep himself safe.

i'll be honest--i wouldn't have any problem with it if the entire arc was properly resolved. if he was being overly mean to ryuji throughout the story and then properly recognized his own faults and apologized i would've stood up and cheered. but nope, nothing of the sort. morgana dances back into the group even though he tries to run akiren over multiple times. ryuji never gets an apology. growth's about as dead as okumura foods' reputation

[gootrude]

phantom thieves as adults headcanons! i am meant to be working on an assignment but my mind it be wandering.

Ryuji Sakamoto

stay at home dad! he's a very family oriented person, i can see his future wife and kids (and his mum too!) being his passion and what he cares about most. an absolute wife guy + the world's silliest father, he makes everyone laugh when they're stressed. he becomes an amazing cook too and makes sure everyone is well-fed and healthy.

grows his hair out a bit and has that half-ponytail thing going on, he still bleaches it but often leaves his roots to grow out.

no matter how old he gets he's still very into shounen anime and manga, loves a good simple battle shounen. probably a jojo fan.

volunteers as a coach for a local kids sports team.

Ann Takamaki

fashion designer, sometimes models her own work but prefers designing.

social media influencer, yes she uses that exact title. she does her best to be a good influence to young girls.

travels often (and vlogs about it).

marries a woman, maybe shiho or makoto. adopts a child around her late 30's to early 40's.

had a growth spurt in her late teens and is now 6'1 because i think she should be tall. she keeps her hair long and usually wears it down.

Yusuke Kitagawa

teaches art at a university and often submits his pieces to galleries. his students think he's quite funny but this is entirely unintentional, he is trying his best to be the most serious artist ever.

never marries and never has children, but becomes a cat guy.

all aquariums in the area know him well as the strange man who comes constantly to stare at the creatures (this is how he relieves stress).

grows his hair long and keeps it in a braid. fan of abstract fashion.

has a phase where he gets really into miniatures, has a little train rolling around that kind of thing.

visits ryuji's family sometimes, his kids really like yusuke even if yusuke has no idea how to talk to children. ryuji's wife is mildly bewildered by him but still likes having him around, it makes ryuji happy to spend time with his old friend. usually spends new years with them.

Makoto Nijima

develops a punk/biker style of fashion. is often changing her hairstyle.

gym every morning without fail, she is strong as hell.

i think rather than following her father into the police or sae into law, she may become a doctor. she makes this choice during her first year of university and switches to medicine. she's passionate about using her intelligence and skills to help people.

definitely loves dogs. she has the best trained dogs you'll ever see.

married to a woman, perhaps ann. if it is ann then they have to be long distance a fair amount, but their busy schedules keep them distracted.

Futaba Sakura

indie game dev set on making the next undertale. does some website coding stuff for money (sorry i know literally nothing about computers).

cuts her hair super short and leans into androgynous fashion. wacky clothes though, she'd hate to wear something boring.

still close with yusuke, they get together to hang out at least once a month. exchanges memes back and forth with ann but doesn't see her very often.

stays living with sojiro, she's able to go out on her own for trips but always comes back home to her dad. sojiro is happy to have her living with him forever, if she wants.

loves reptiles and has had many as pets over the years.

Haru Okumura

opens her cafe together with her partner ren amamiya. she handles the business side and he cooks and makes drinks. they have some part time help too, haru is a boss who is known to be both kind and intelligent in how she runs her business. it's a popular spot in the area and they have plenty of regulars who keep the place going.

they host a yearly phantom thieves get-together at their cafe where the group will spend a weekend with each other (ann sometimes has to attend over facetime, makoto does her best but has a very busy schedule so has had to miss a few).

her fashion stays largely the same, if not a little more mature. the fancy little lady look is important. she grows her hair out a bit longer and keeps it in a ponytail.

she spends her free time crocheting and playing video games, horror is her favourite genre but she plays a variety of games.

haru and ren become foster parents in their 40's, maybe not adopting entirely but they give children a safe loving environment when they need that.

Goro Akechi

he died sorry.

[nirvanaida]

you should say the p5 take out loud

okay. it’s not gonna be what you think though. p5 mutuals please don’t kill me but here’s the take:

in general, what makes the characters of persona 5 and persona 5 royal so interesting is how they all try to shatter the status quo. this is the main theme of the game – people realising the injustices in their society and rising up against it, rejecting the idea of “this is just how it is”. the characters embody a desire to break free from the unbalanced conventions of society, from the protagonist to the minor social links. however, there is one character who fails to live up to the standard set by the other characters; they have a weak arc, are unreflective, serve no real purpose that couldn’t be replaced by another character, and ultimately undermine the themes that persona 5 tries so hard to emphasise. a lot of people might think they know who i’m talking about here, but i might surprise you. i am not talking akechi goro.

i’m talking about makoto nijima.

makoto is hands down the worst character in the game, in my opinion, because of the above reasons. now, most people who dislike her do not do so for fair reasons – let’s be honest, it usually boils down to misogny. but i’d like to present my ideas around why makoto is such an affront to the rest of the cast in a more fair manner, without focusing on the aspects of her character (like her attitude, her interestin more “masculine” activities, her mary-sueishness, etc) that the afformentioned people focus on.

spoilers under the cut

first, when compared to the other characters in the game, makoto contributes nothing to the narrative. morgana is the link between the velvet room and the metaverse. ann and ryuji are joker’s first comrades. yusuke is the first non-shujin phantom thief. futaba has practical functions as the navigator, a link to the mental shutdowns through wakaba, and explores the idea of a palace soawning from non-evil desire. haru is used to explore goodness through selfishness as well as emphasising okumura’s death, sumire cements the ideas of the third semester, and akechi is joker’s foil. makoto’s role is supposed to be that of the tactician – the “brains of the team”. however, unlike the other characters who actively fulfill their respective jobs in the story, makoto’s “necessity” is a forced contrivance. she never displays any intelligent or deductive reasoning besides pointing out the obvious. in order to make makoto’s input seem useful, the previously competent pts are suddenly made out to be so dumb that they are amazed when makoto suggests the basic idea of forming a strategy. it’s also worth noting that after futaba’s palace or so, makoto accomplishes nothing within infiltrations. the game insists that she is a brilliant mind, but never does anything to indicate to us that this is true.

in addition to their practical roles, the pts are also used to thematically delve into the various flaws of japanese society, all of them eventually coming to the conclusion that they must reject the idea of continuing on in complacancy. in their respective awakenings, ann and ryuji work up the courage to defy kamoshida, as does yusuke madarame, haru her father, futaba her delusions, and sumire her grief. when akechi dies in the engine room, he has a similar experience in that he comes to terms with the fact that his violent spiral has lead to his death. however, makoto’s awakening is a rejection of kaneshiro, which is hardly something that radical for her character. it could have had more effect if it were someone like kobayakawa and sae who she was defying, a respected figure of authority in her life. she’s not overcoming anything when she calls out kaneshiro for extorting children. in general, makoto is all over the place when it comes to theming. it seems like they want her to realise that complacent in the suffering of others by not calling out authority figures, but again, neither her awakening nor her later actions reflect this. similarly, they focus on her trying to be “useful”, which is completely dissonant from the rest of the characters’ motivations. i ask this: what does makoto’s awakening add to the themes of the game?

if your answer is indeed to focus on how sometimes we must disobey authority to do what’s right, i would like to point out that the game does not manage to convey this theme it refuses to explore the consequences of makoto’s noncompliance. Yes, she refuses to name the phantom thieves in her report to kobayakawa, but her life continues on as normal despite this. she keeps her high grades, her student council presidency, her university prospects, and we see no effect of her abandonment of the reference letter having a strain on makoto and sae’s relationship. yes, she champions the idea of changing sae’s heart (although… not really, akechi suggests it first), but there is no confronttion between the two sisters in the end. she has overcome a non-difficulty, so how has she overcome anything at all? when we compare this to what the other pts lose for their refusal of society – a working leg, a best friend, a guardian, a safety net, a father, vengence, peace of mind – makoto’s arc pales in comparison. so the fact that the narrative treats it with the same gravitas as the others’ is a travesty.

furthermore, in some ways makoto undermines the themes of the game. reflecting on oneself is something that is emphasised by the narrative – most of the character at somempoint realise that they have been lacking in some regard, both in the complacency to society and within their social link. makoto never really reflects on herself, however. she is an incredibly flawed character, but the game and herself refuse to acknowledge this. for example she appears as a character who finds satisfaction in being better than others. she is incredibly demeaning towards ryuji, she wishes to solve kaneshiro’s case by herself (or at least be the one to provide the crucial evidence), she emphasises her “mental superiority” at every chance possible, she is desperate to prove that she knows better than eiko in her social link, she delights in one-upping akechi in the interrogation room, etc. most attrociously, when ann suggests that makoto, as student council president and thus one responsible for student wellbeing, may share some blame for kamoshida’s abuse, makoto turns the blame on ann, saying that she should have known shiho would attempt suicide. most people say that makoto’s decision to become a cop is out of character, but it’s sadly not. makoto’s refusal to reflect on how the pts ended up where they were, her refusal to actually examine herself as a character, her insistence in her superiority that she can fix a broken system… it all leads to the same place. now, none of this makes makoto a “bad” character (aside from the cop part /hj) – if anything, it makes her more interesting. however, makoto is more often than not portrayed as in the right for her actions. aside from at the very beginning, she is never challenged, never reflects, never acknowledges her flaws.

makoto could so easily be replaced by a variety/combination of characters, and the game would be better. akechi would have been a better it for the kaneshiro arc, even if it may have been more difficult to incorporate. futaba or morgana could handle affinities. akechi could work as the connection to sae, or sae herself. and i wish it was different! i wish that makoto contributed something, i wish she was interesting, i wish she was more than what she is. but she’s not. and it annoys me when people insist otherwise.

[apollos-boyfriend]

since your playing p5 whats your thoughts on the team members so far? :D

okay so! as a heads up i have already Experienced p5r so these r not initial thoughts necessarily. but i still want to rant about my favoritest kids <3 this got long so i'm putting it below the cut whoops ladkjf

ryuji! i fucking love ryuji man. i think a lot of people write him off as just the goofy sidekick character but he is SO much more to me. a lot of ryuji's trauma gets so overlooked due to the fact of him largely being comic relief, but like. that kid has gone through SO much!!!! between his father and kamoshida and his peers like. he is SO strong. i love his characterization of "people are treating me like a punk, i may as well act like it" bc it's not even him necessarily playing a role he isn't. he is a punk! he's disruptive and counter-cultural and has issues with authority. and that's punk, but also like, those are the parts of punk that society sees and demonizes. ryuji is punk not just because of that, but because he cares about others before all else and stands up for what's right no matter what, even if it means being punished for it, because he has a super strong sense of justice and is super protective over those he loves!! i feel like a lot of ryuji's character gets kind of. skipped over by a large majority of players. because his actions and presentation is very specific to fighting against japanese culture, meaning it gets lost in translation unless you're aware of japanese culture and norms. i love this boy so much <3

i have. a lot of thoughts on ann. largely her meta-treatment by the writers as opposed to her in-game self. you can find some ramblings if u scroll down my p5lb tag, bc i have. a Lot of thoughts on that aspect of her. on a lighter note, though, i fucking love ann. i think she also kind of falls into the mischaracterization of being ditzy at times. not as badly as ryuji, but ann is a very open character. she's extremely compassionate and wants to help everyone she possibly can, even at her own detriment at times, but as we're shown this sometimes leads her to being used by others. which i think leads to people making her just. overly trusting to a blind degree. or stupid. but ann is super smart! she immediately clocked that the painting was yusuke's, not madarame's, and is shown time and time again to be able to understand others' true feelings, even if they're trying to keep them hidden. i really like how she's blunt and honest, even if it comes off as harsh or insensitive. she speaks her mind! she's not going to hesitate and risk not being heard to understood! i really love that for her

i haven't gotten him yet BUT i am on madarame so. i will sneak in yusuke. because i love him. he is truly one of the characters ever. obviously he is one of The most autistic-coded characters in the game (alongside futaba). which is detrimental to an extent. bc people often just fully mischaracterize him due to his eccentricity. for me i just really love how unapologetic he is with it. that kid has never heard of masking in his life (/pos). he's one of the characters i feel for the most because like. god. he had his whole fucking world twisted. haru and makoto had similar experiences of people they'd known all their lives becoming corrupt, but like. haru's dad wasn't always like that. and neither was makoto's sister. they HAD good intentions. madarame never did. he's the closest to mirroring akechi in that sense, except akechi knew all along. yusuke didn't have that privilege. that sense of revenge. i think his story is so delicate and difficult because how do you even go about knowing your entire life was a lie? and not even in a way you can step away from. art was still his world. it's not just something he did for madarame. the knowledge of carrying that burden. of those memories that shaped you being corrupted in such a way.

morgana is there. i guess. wish he wasn't.

[dykegoro]

Took an adderall at work and went fucking nuts setting up pokemon teams for all of the phantom thieves using mypokemonteam.com so here they are with my reasoning for choosing them. Long post ahead

Joker

Ditto needs no explanation. Zoroark because it can similarly cast the illusion of being another pokemon but has a core identity of its own. I gave all the OG Phantom Thieves an eeveelution and Umbreon is his. Darkrai because it deals in nightmares and is kind of freaky and spindly like Arsène. Litten because it is a little black and red cat. Marshadow because it’s a freaky little ghost guy who's also a fighting type and gets surrounded by blue flames when he’s mad

Ryuji

Dhelmise because it’s literally the ghost of a pirate ship. Jolteon for his eeveelution. Sharpedo because it’s a fucking shark torpedo. Scrafty because it’s kind of a shifty little dark-type mon with the moxie ability who’s friendly to its comrades but kind of suspiciously looked down on like a little punk bitch otherwise. Elekid because it’s like a little funky electric creature that goes 😈. Loudred because that bitch is loud

Ann

Oricorio because it’s a flamenco dancer like Carmen. Flareon eeveelution. Scorbunny because it’s an adorable bunny with lots of energy that shoots flames at people and kicks the shit out of them. Skitty because it is an adorable little pink cat whose only job is to be so cutie and I feel like Ann would be in love with it. Liepard because it’s sneaky and panther-esque. Lopunny because it gets sexualized by everybody but has a sweet and charming personality and also kicks the shit out of people

Yusuke

Hisuian Samurott because it’s literally an ancient samurai like Goemon. Alolan Ninetales because it’s an ice fox. Glaceon eeveelution because it’s also an ice fox. Froslass because she’s a little ice ghost in a kimono. Smeargle obviously. Milotic because it's "the most beautiful pokemon" and apparently an inspiration to artists all over the pokeworld

Makoto

Pancham because it’s like if Buchimaru beat the shit out of people. Miraidon because it’s a huge glowing blue motorcycle with incredible powers. Espeon because dude I was fucking running out of ideas with the eeveelution shit. Ceruledge because it’s a glowy blue ninja. Poochyena because it’s like slightly gothy but also very cute and I think Makoto would have kind of a connection to dark types. Riolu similar reasons because it beats ass but is also extremely intelligent and loyal

Futaba

Futaba's I am really happy with. 2 big fucking UFOs one of which has the "analytic" ability and the other of which is covered in green spikes. Leafeon evolution because it’s the green one. Charjabug because it’s green and electric and a little battery guy. Cofagrigus for palace reasons obviously. Swadloon because it’s green and shy and hiding.

Haru

Meowscarada because it looks like her and is also a grass type so related to her love for plants. Espurr because it’s tiny and cute and can cause massive explosions with its uncontrollable psychic powers. Sylveon because it takes so long to befriend Haru in-game and she doesn’t really flourish until you do. Medicham bc it’s psy/fighting. Jirachi bc it’s psy/steel. Tinkaton because it has a huge fucking hammer.

Akechi

Has his own Eevee that he trained independently of the group getting their evolutions. Picked it because it’s extremely common and socially acceptable. It will never evolve or take any of the paths it could have taken if it had reached out a little more. Rockruff similarly is super normie and cute but will evolve into its freaky Lycanroc Dusk Form which is kind of goth and uncontrollable and frequently canonically causes Rockruff to be abandoned by trainers. Corvisquire because it’s a crow but it’s like a mid-level crow so less suspicious than a huge terrifying Corviknight. Alolan Marowak because it’s got blue flames bursting around it and it’s wearing the skull of its dead mother and fights with one of her bones. Mega Banette because it’s insane and looks like Loki and is also a ghost type which I just like for him. Also sorry but it's literally the wailing ghost of a child's toy that was thrown away and is powered through solely by its rage at being abandoned and is willing to harm itself to harm others. FINALLY Hisuian Zoroark which is also a ghost type and the mirror image of Joker’s regular Zoroark. Has the wildcard-esque Illusion ability just like regular Zoroark.

Sumire

Pirouette form Meloetta because it’s surprisingly strong and kind of balletic/gymnast-y. Vulpix because it’s cute and looks like her. Cherrim for her third semester personality after gaining her identity back which I think would be in its cherry-blossom sunshine form for most of the regular game while she's being "Kasumi." Mimikyu also for obivous Royal reasons. Mega Audino because it’s cute but weirdly strong for a normal type, can hear everything and understand people very well. Kirlia because it’s also kind of gymnast-y and is stronger than it looks.

[hobie-doh]

ooh quick ryuji protag au question - what personas do you have for everyone (for some reason my question mark isn't working :()

Oooo yippee I love answering questions about this!

Okay so trying to be spoiler free I'll go through the starters for our team.

Ren still has Lupin, just a more viable not made of paper Lupin.

Yusuke: The Danish prince of tragedy himself, Hamlet! (I could rant forever about my love for hamlet but I will refrain, I do believe I've tied it to Yusuke's story pretty well though.)

Camille is the name of Ann's persona, she's a sculptor who was wronged by her boss and had her art stolen, I'm sure the connections are obvious.

Akechi: Robin Hood himself ;>

Makoto: Joan of Arc

Futaba: The West Virginia Mothman!

Haru: Bai Suzhen or The lady white snake from Chinese mythology.

Thank you for asking about this! I'm trying not to make this a giant wall of text about me geeking out over mythology

[prismatic-cannon]

wrt the p5 vball au (!!!!!) i'm pretty sure yusuke is canonically Very Bad at the sports (see beach episode, his absolute terrible performance in beach vball) but he is so tall and lanky... so stronk... but i cannot see him being particularly "athletic" and coordinated in that way (part of that is just me projecting my lack of coordination on him lmao.) granted he does have high agility plus the "scoundrel eyes," in royal, but i just don't see him actually... having that sort of hand-eye to hit ball and not whiff. of the kosei boys though... knowing its artsy reputation, i don't know if anyone has that lmao... though also with him being that tall, maybe he gets saddled with middle? but also. 180cm is still, like, libero height for a lot of teams lol

they do make the joke that mako too stronk for the boys a lot (again, see beach episode) but i think she'd probably follow her combat abilities and be really well rounded in both offence and defence. haru is really nimble and bendy, and probably has a great swing (axe) but idk if she has the height/hops for the net. akechi and joker being the setters... makes so much sense oh dear it's almost upsetting. though imagine them on the same team.... akechi would probably also make a great opposite (lefty, good power) as would joker (literally perfect) and we know they're both fairly athletic, which makes me think... 6-2? maybe they hit... and set....? i think you made mishmash a libero which makes a lot of sense?. i hc him as being faster and better than ppl give him credit for, despite him being the lamest canonically. (ilu mishima) and ryuji thinks this vball bullshit is lame af dude

this is a wall and tl;dr i think vb au is so good !!! i want to chew on it thank you sorry for too many words ;-;

damn anon you had some thoughts 😂 (gonna put this under a cut so i don't flood anyone's dash)

Tbh I totally forgot that there was a beach volleyball scene in Hawaii until you reminded me omg. The way Makoto spikes it hard into the sand ... a murderer 😂 But yes she's easily captain-material for sure, especially since she's already student council president and everything

I think people would underestimate Haru at first, but you could definitely give her an edge up on something e.g. one of those scary killer serves. Bottom line is that Haru should have her sweet murderous moment where she's bouncing delicately on her heels all \o/ \o/ \o/ oh my I hope you're ready — because I won't hold back!! 💕 while the opposing team cowers in fear or something lol. I love my wife can you tell

Middle blocker is totally viable for Yusuke too I think!! He's a tall guy, so he could definitely do stuff if he puts the work in. If this was based on canonverse then yeah I could see him whiffing the ball from time to time. I’m sure the hand/body coordination for handling a sword vs doing da sports ball is different lol. My reason for making him ace was so that he could be a temperamental but formidable ace, and place him as one of the key players for Kosei so that the Shujin team could have rivals to go up against ya know? I just think the idea of seeing Yusuke's murder eyes as he blasts a spike through a block is just. (chef's kiss) sublime shit. It would be an honour to die by his hand (also is 180cm really normal libero height?? All my volleyball knowledge is gleaned from HQ so I’m probably missing something lmao)

Also I see your point about making Akechi and Joker on the same team, but considering that it’s these two dudes we’re talking about I feel like we have to double down on their whole rival dynamic, it would be a crime not to imo (and this is coming from someone who hates shu/ake and Akechi lol). The setter mind games they could have with each other is too good — like if you have Akechi be his superficially genial and amiable self while Joker actively goes out of his way to antagonise him just to peel back that fake veneer of charm and throw him off his game??? Delish

😭 Mishima my beloved ... I think I mentioned this already but I really like the idea of him being a libero since it's a near 1:1 parallel to his role in canon (no spike, only support!!!!) I HC that his low-to-zero presence lowkey serves him well on court, in the sense that he's a solid defense player that quietly keeps chugging along and making sure the ball stays up while everyone else focuses on offense. He's a silly little NPC that keeps his head down and stays in his lane ... 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Ofc sometimes the opposing team is going to target him to try and break through their defense, but once he gets into his zone it's hard to shake him off his groove imo. If you're telling me Mishima can hyperfixate this hard on his dumb little website then at least some of that focus is going to bleed into his vball game headspace (wow I didn’t go off on a shu/yuu tangent. it’s a miracle, let’s keep it that way)

Anyway thank you for your volleyball thoughts!! It’s always fun to think about it even though it’s too much effort to actualise it lmao

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

I’ve been playing so much of “The Quarry” and “Persona 5″ recently that I had a dream last night where I combined the two games together.

In my dream, the Phantom Thieves (Joker, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, and Goro. Morgana and Haru weren’t present) were summer camp counselors. Sojiro Sakura was the park ranger in charge of the team (so Sojiro replaced Chris Hackett). During their last night on the job, shadows attacked. So I guess the shadows from “Persona 5″ replaced the werewolves from “The Quarry”. 

Out of the main cast, only Goro died lol. He got eaten by a shadow during a chase in the woods. I feel that sort of reflects how I feel about this character in the actual game. 

[symphonic-scream]

Pride Month au post 2-

Superhero (Young Justice/Teen Titans style) AU

[again quick reminder that. Uh. Incase it wasn't clear from everything about my account they're all Makoto/Haru centred I love them]

Anyways

So the gist of it is, well. They're young heroes all places in a team together cause none were old enough to be like. Actual true International Leagued heroes. Joker and Futaba were trained by Igor, Ryuji and Ann were brought in after they stopped their PE teacher from committing some bad acts, and Yusuke. Showed up. That's the best way to put it

And Makoto, well, her father was an International level hero when she was young but he died. Sae didn't inherit the family power (Iron Will, I'm calling it) and Makoto did. So, her father's former friends vouched for her to get a place on the team

And bam that's the main team at the start. "But wait" you say "what about Haru?"

>:3

Haru has powers, but no one in her family has ever had any. So, she has no connections for this sort of thing. But she sees the others on TV and thinks yeah!! I can help!! So she. Becomes a vigilante and helps people, or tries to

However. There's a bit of a, misunderstanding

See there's this criminal, a serial killer named the Black Mask who is the arch nemesis of the team. But they don't know who they are or what they look like. So when am unknown powered person calling themself "Noire" comes onto the scene? Well they assume she's Black Mask

(oh and everyone is like, uni age, only Futaba is still in high school)

Anyways Haru likes to flirt with punk hero Queen while she's being chased and one night Queen actually catches Noire! But instead of bringing her in, she. Finds out she's been wrong. Also they top over the edge of months of sexual tension chasing and wind up at Makoto's apartment

They work it out and Makoto covers for Haru and tries to get the others to stop thinking she's Black Mask and stuff while they sneak around.

(spoiler alert it doesn't work, there's a whole fight, Makoto gets kicked from the team for a spell, but it all rights itself)

Anyways I have so many thoughts about this. So. So many. They're also gay thoughts.

[writerofjourneys]

Hi hi! I'm back. I kind of shocked you took your time answering me, I'll be honest. I thought you'd just dismiss everything I said (specially with such a lengthy text). So thank you, really!

I'm going to answer you back as well, if you don't mind. And once again, I'm not attacking you, just giving you my honest opinion. And once again, I'll tackle your points in order.

- When I get my anxiety attacks and depressive episodes, I act just like Sumire on her slumps. Maybe that's why I can resonate so much with her on those first ranks. Maybe it's a difference in our life experiences and how we tackled it? You think it's lackluster, I think it's subtle enough. And I agree with you on how she slowly was trying to regain herself but Maruki's actualization kept in check. I think that's how we got the little snippets of the real Sumire inside (the bento incident).

- I think the other athletes thought she had lost it and she was going crazy. In Japan, mental health issues is a real sensitive topic and people try to avoid "different" people. It may be a little graphic, but if you have time read about the Sagamihara stabbings. Also, that's the issue. Sumire had her Shiho. Her Eiko. It was Kasumi, and she lost her. And we, in fact, get to talk to her trainer twice so there's our "person in the area".

- About the phone: I don't think it was really broken, nor it was Kasumi's phone. It was Sumire's phone. The lag, the malfunctioning, it was all due to Maruki's interference. When she calls you and we get to listen to her first call ever, her voice is all Darth Vader like. Plus, Joker calls her Kasumi because Sumire carries Kasumi's student id, issued before her death. Joker being Joker and helping out is the reason we can reach the true Sumire. After all, if you don't advance her confidant you can't reach the Royal route.

- I think you're partially right on your point about the Phantom Thieves and their friendship. I do think their friendship get the usual flow: meet, persona time, join the team, funny banter. They like her, they are friends. But you're right, it isn't a rank 10 friendship between them. That's evident with the last cutscene. The gang joins up to help you get to the station, but she arrived there first? Why didn't she go with them? And what the fudge I HATE THAT SCENE. It's so lackluster for her character. A disservice.

- I think BOTH of her awakenings show a Spirit of Rebellion, yes. First time she's rebelling against common sense. About the fact she has to accent she isn't Kasumi and never will be. Hence, the dialogue about "these are the shoes that you chose". The second awakening, rebellion is against MARUKI'S SOCIETY. Remember, he had already changed the entire world at this point and he's saying "it's okay, you can keep on dreaming. Your pain will go away." At this time, she rejects this version of the world, thus finally embracing herself and achieving the "true glass slippers": her own self.

- About connection with the player, well, even with the new brief Haru scenes I still couldn't like her and her confidant. Both of them suffer a LOT by being the last kids on the bunch, and after you get her rank 5 there's not much else you can do together until Sumire becomes relevant again. Thinking about it, Akechi sometimes disappears as well aka you can't raise his confidant in some months. Now, about the goals, the only ones I think it can trully compare are Ann and Yusuke. She does decide to be an international model, but only AFTER you do her confidant. She wasn't serious before. It was a hobby. Ryuji goes back to track at the end of the game. Haru is busy with the company, but at the same time she always has time for you. She's always tending her garden. I don't know.

- Is she the only well known athlete? Yes!

Remember, the star of the school was Kamoshida and the volleyball team. After he confessed, Shujin's reputation was in shambles and only the Yoshizawa twin(s) were left. And about the dance... they did say they were busy/going home. And her dance is even after you have a romantic rendevouz with a love interest and Ryuji, so they really don't have a reason to stick in school.

- Giving you once again the point that Cendrillon (and her clothes for that matter) should have changed after her true awakening. Specially with the knowledge that Personas have the form of one's true psyche. And Cendrillon fits like a glove -- or, rather, a shoe -- in the themes. Your argument is that "[Cinderella] doesn't fight for a cause for other and themselves." That's true. But so doesn't Carmen. Or Milady. Or Captain Kidd. So what does a pirate, two femme fatales, a legendary thief, two vigilantes and fairy tale princess have in common?

They're all tricksters!

Yaldabaoth made two Main Trickers, Joker and Akechi. But the other personas are just as much tricksters as them. Milady is a femme fatale that doesn't have a clear side. Captain Kidd was a corsair. Robin Hood and Goemon stole from the rich to give to the poor. Arsene Lupin was a gallant thief and Zorro fought for his people.

Why is Cinderella/Cendrillon a trickster?

Because she disguised herself to go to the ball, so much so her family could recognize her. She TRICKED them and the prince, making him think she was noblity!

- The eating trope. I dind't mind it, but I read a lot of shounen. What made me cringe was the beach scenes, yukata scenes, fhe fanservice. But again, japanese game.

- Romance: You can avoid their romance, but Haru already loves you by the point you reach rank 9. And if you say you're only friends, she asks to be left alone and goes to her room. Plus on many moments on her confidant other people ask if you two are a thing or not. Other than her, I THINK Chihaya? She reads her cards? I don't know she's the second worst romance I rushed it.

- Getting new glasses for her dad deserves a rank? Yes because it's not about the glasses. It's about Sumire choosing something by herself. She was ready to leave that responsibility to Joker, but he gave her his moral support and she did get to choose it. She even lampshades it.

- When you like your therapist, you develop this bound in which they become kind of like your second family. You can talk anything to them. Maruki did say, at the beginning of the game, that she was a former patient of his, we get to see when and how he changed her cognition. And, remember, she was depressed because her sister had died and suddenly after only one t

visit she's all better. It's a miracle! He's THAT good! He helped her on her worst moment! Maruki is as important for her as Joker.

- Effect of her student status: in what way? I mean we saw how everyone acted before and after she started underperforming. Other students gossip she can take tests whenever, skip class all the time with no repercutions. I think it's enough. She's special. More explanation would go into exposition territory.

- About her processing about her twin death, I just thought about something reading your point. Maybe her recovery was fast because she was already processing the death. It IS a reach but, say. Sumire, pretending to be Kasumi, came to terms to her sister's death. Okay. Once Sumire went back, since she was already processing the loss, the shock went full on "wtf who am I really?" And I think most of her trauma came with the guilty that she contributed to her sister's death.

- What was Maruki doing? I think it's what we saw. He helped Rumi. Kept his research in secret while taking care of some patients. One of them was Sumire. She was a drastic case so he helped her. I don't think he helped more people at this time, and if he did, they were extreme cases like Rumi and Sumire. They were irrelevent, tho. Because they were like Rumi and Sumire. If he did help more people, they were unremarkable to him. Sumire was his second successful case. His Persona wasn't fully awakened yet, keep that in mind. He got the job at Shujin to keep an eye on Sumire while finishing his paper and keeping up with the kids.

- The blue butterfly: only the persona users could see it. And the party members did get invited to the Velvet Room and talked to both Lavenza and Igor, with the exceptions of Akechi (probably went before tho bc Yaldabaoth) and Sumire.

- She stalking him and the important job: Mona knew amd talked about it, so most likelly it was Phantom Thieves business. Why else would a talking cat care?

- But it was for the betterment of society and saving it from injustice. Maruki wanted the world to like by his rules, he had good intentions but his views were flawed, as seen by that part in his palace where you answered quizzes with what was right and wrong. Plus, remember, at first Sumire didn't agree with the Phantom Thieves changing hearts because she wishes for people to be able to solve their own problems by themselves. People should be able to stand on their own, without relying to a god, a group of teens or someone dictating their lives and take away the pain. Free will and struggle are too important for her, which is also a shock when you realize Maruki's meddling with her cognition. BTW I think this is also one of the moments where we can see, deep down, this is Sumire's view of the world. If she was only mimicking Kasumi, when we explored the palace she could have agreed to Maruki or wouldn't feel unconfortable on the quizz part. The question about "give up on your dream and get a new one" really hurt her.

- Marinette is a static character. Her views get challenged, she gets more roles (being the new guardian and everything) but at the end of the day she's still the same old Marinette. They even get TIME TRAVEL ffs Astruc. On the other hand, the Sumire from the start of the game is not the same from the end, the whole "stole identity act" aside. She gets braver, she stands up for herself and what's right, she finally can reach international competitions, comes to terms with her sister's demise and even gets her self confidence back.

OOF! DONE!

Sorry if I made any spelling mistake, english isn't my first language, it's 1 am over here and im tired.

Once again thank you if you took your time reading, I'm loving our talks.

NOTE: This will be my last post over this discussion as I will not be accepting messages regarding this debate topic anymore. My original post that led to these exchange of views was just meant for me to let these bubbling thought go, leaving it behind and moving on with my continuation for writing. An outlet. And while I appreciate the responses of different opinions, please understand and respect my choice that I am done with it and am moving on.

Your long discussion is something else, I’m impressed by you making an extended analysis and outlook. And it’s kind of hard to dismiss a message from my inbox with such a lengthy text. I feel like I’m kinda overwhelmed seeing the time you take to message me again regarding the topic further. Though I have to admit that this subject has brought burnout for me, as I am brought to think about her again when I was going for moving on from her. But I’m not pointing fingers at you or anyone else. My opinion on her has hasn’t changed much, she is a poorly written character who is still my least favourite, but she had potential to be something if under the right circumstances.

Though I can see your point of view, I can’t help but diverge from them as well. There are gaps where we probably won’t totally look at things about the character the same way, which I understand and mean no rudeness by it.

Also, thank you for the follow. Though I’m not sure if my regular posts would be appealing to you following me based on our discussion, considering I run a storytelling blog, aside from the inbox discussion which is not actually my preference to do on Tumblr. I thought the other debate would leave a different impression but I’m glad it didn’t.

Anyways, back to my point of view.

For the slumps, I suppose I just view them from the writing perspective for the most part. I can see it being subtle as well, but perhaps too subtle to the point where it’s not elaborated enough for her story. I think Atlus should’ve done more to link her connection with Maruki further, like her routinely going to his sessions so he’d keep her cognition in check, more showy in being off putting if not, etc, since it felt like she stayed the same when acting as her sister until the reveal happened. Everyone has slumps, but her’s can’t be different she is not introspective enough that there’s more to it then that. If she was more about the loss of her sister when acting as Kasumi then there’d be a reason for the difference in her slumps.

It makes sense for Japan to walk around topics from mental health as a country who thinks about it differently from others. I’m not going to put a label any more than that as these subjects are never to be defined by others as one thing or be something that everyone agrees on. I wouldn’t put Kasumi as being Sumire’s Eiko or Shiho since I was actually meaning about her association currently instead of the past. Especially when we know more about those two unlike the real Kasumi. I would say she was more like Sae for the sister aspect, including the predictable similarities the Yoshizawas have with the Niijimas and the grief and loss of their father, and Futaba’s mother Wakaba. Her trainer wouldn’t be quite the same as she’s only in Yoshizawa’s life when it’s about her training and classes but nothing so familial. When the real ‘person in the area’ should’ve been her parents after losing one of their kids. And their lack of involvement is disappointing. Her words spoken when choosing to battle Joker and Akechi show that she hadn’t accepted her sister’s death with healing and affirmation during the times she impersonated her. That is not how a person overcomes grief. Acting as a deceased loved one and ignoring the reality of it is not acceptance, it’s avoidance and a coping method of blocking out the truth. It’s unhealthy. And her parents are pretty crappy because of how they respond to that situation. Her father makes only a rare appearance, they aren’t being constant figures in her life, and they let her parade around as Kasumi when they should’ve sat her down and talked to her about what she is doing to herself and to them as a family. Sumire’s cognition only affects her, so they know the truth. It’s not how anyone should go about loss and sorrow when it doesn’t resolve anything but a painful reminder. If they had bothered to care more about their daughter’s situation and be more present and involved in her life, Sumire wouldn’t be so pushed to the edge of her inner struggles when she could talk to them about it. And a point that you’ve mentioned on how people had distanced themselves from her is saying that, aside from her parents, coach, and obviously Joker and Maruki, there has apparently not been a single decent person at all in her life besides the obvious four where two are not around enough. This just proves that whatever so called bond she has with the thieves is so minuscule and inconsistent when she doesn’t even consider them. They’re the ones out of the other confidants of Joker that she interacts with, yet those interactions have no substance as she discredits them compared to Joker, who she only gives her real attention to when it should’ve been in fair amounts in regards to having anyone decent in her life.

To have her phone be malfunctioning by Maruki is a bit strange to me since his powers are a little confusing. That detail doesn’t happen to the other thieves when he grants their wishes and affects their mentality. It may be the side affect of her cognition, but if that were the case then only Yoshizawa would’ve been the only one affected by her phone malfunctioning. But we can notice the malfunction, too. So it has to be that she took her sister’s phone or her phone was broken herself from the impact of the traffic accident. But that would depend on if the twins had their phones on their person in their bags. Yet that is also iffy when her phone goes back to normal, so she’s either gotten herself a new one or something. It’s just confusing and weird. Yoshizawa’s ID is all Joker had to go off of in identifying her anyways, but there’s creative opportunities in finding out her real name. Since everyone apparently knew what happened and her backstory, it must’ve landed on the news. I’d think that advancing her confidant didn’t need to be the reason to reach the royal route when Maruki is the star of Third Semester, a confidant, and has interactions with everyone that can leave a more interesting opportunity for royal’s route. It revolves around him like Nyx, Izanami, and Yaldabaoth. And he is similar to Nyx and Yaldabaoth in the sense that the three are both responding to what people wanted. While she answers to humanity’s desire for death and extinction, while he and Yaldabaoth are about granting deepest desires, which compensates for their own benefits.

Maybe the point Atlus made for the end meeting of Yoshizawa was that she’s fine to go back to her life as nothing ties her to the thieves anymore. Because her one true objective was defeating Maruki, and having achieved that, went to continue her career as a gymnast. Which would majorly diverge her path from others due to absences, different goals, that kind of thing. Since the only thing she cares about is gymnastics, it’s her priority that she holds above all else. Which could even transcend the thieves. It makes sense that her and Cendrillon are the odd ones out.

I feel like her first awakening needed more than just ‘going against common sense’. Her failings of gymnastics other than for her own personal goals mean nothing else to her. The dialogue for her first awakening explains that that’s the reason for her rebellion, what others have said about her. When, in contradictory, she factly states that she does not care for her special treatment, the school’s approval, or her honour student status, who she herself is opposing the terms upholding said status that she also doesn’t care about. All of her ‘potentially losing her status’ is just by a result of her own actions and self-knowledge. She is fully aware that keeping the honour student-athlete status all depends on her only and that the consequences of it taken away are the results of her actions. Not anyone else’s. Like being in third place. That all came down on her alone. Yet she spins it as if it’s unfair and that she’s being wronged. Making a commotion because she is unable to deal with her slumps that she claims is affecting her gymnastics, which is not delved upon further detail, is not worth the attention of storytelling when there is nothing off about the school staff warning her about the loss of status. There’s just no injustice. She won’t let anyone speak ill of her dream? Why when she doesn’t even care about anyone has said. Does she tell every person what she wants to be when she grows up? Nothing about her getting third place was rigged, it’s just the result of her performance that she failed to meet in the end. That’s it. And fake Kasumi’s reaction over losing her younger twin is not impactful. She brushes pass her “death” with mild sadness and grief and continues off on her merry way. Even Sumire’s fake appearance in the Palace was small. If fake Kasumi had cared about her sister more, and the situation around her, then we’d have something more interesting to go off of. To say that her awakening was just about her identity crisis doesn’t fit because that wasn’t what was presented in the dialogue or the scene leading up to her gaining a Persona. And she said that her name was Kasumi, she was still in firm belief that she was the older twin, not that she accepted that she couldn’t be her sister. If that were the case, then we, as the player, would’ve known her true identity sooner as a result because her lines would’ve given evidence. The reveal of her actual sister shows that she genuinely thought it was the other way around. Cendrillon’s words like “Rather than accept a life in cinders, you’d strive towards splendor, you know the risk. Well, if those really are the shoes you’ve chosen.” works with Yoshizawa’s, albeit rather poorly, motive for awakening. Cinderella had strived to have the freedom to do what she wanted without being held back, to be something a little more than what she really was. It aligns with Yoshizawa’s goals when as fake Kasumi: to reach the level of gymnastics on a higher level for herself, since that’s the only thing that matters to her. The student status goes with the athlete status, but she doesn’t even care for it. She wants to be a star, to be the best of her club and proceed bigger goals. Her ‘Risk’ is being stripped of her honour student status title as the result of her inability to meet the requirements of first or second place tournaments that come with the athlete terms she is consciously aware of. There’s no fowl play, no rigging, no unfairness. It’s simple understanding and consent by both parties. She knew exactly what to expect depending on the outcome.

The ‘shoes’ she’s chosen can be more than just her filling in her sister’s place. Cinderella puts no effort to be someone else, she’s just perceived by that impression from others after her fairy godmother makeover. She stays the same person as when she attended the ball and never had to put on an act. The thing about Sumire achieving Kasumi’s dream for her by being as her is obviously a major flaw, that’s not how life works. Sumire is aware that to accomplish a goal like reaching to the top, to want to put oneself in a higher position requires the person themself to truly reach that dream. She knows that that’s what Kasumi wanted, not only with her but also for herself by her own efforts. And being in Kasumi’s position was the most notable thing about what Sumire wanted, she wanted what her sister already had. But for Sumire, her inferiority complex and jealousy isn’t simply a mild thing, it’s pushed to the edge to the point where it’s so unhealthy that it consumes her and her treatment of the people in her life. For fake Kasumi, the shoes can be a representation of her ideal objective, because it’s a symbol of success like how Cinderella got her happy ending from those shoes, which she keeps to the end. So fake Kasumi’s version would be to reach gymnastics on the global scale that she’s mentioned before. Because that’s the only thing she cares about. How Sumire and fake Kasumi think are an interesting comparison. And it’s also only based on Sumire’s interpretation of her twin, but still a sort of instinctive reflection of herself. Judging by Maruki’s powers, it’s clear that what the wisher desired is a likelinesses of oneself. Unlike some of the other thieves, Sumire never wanted Kasumi’s return. And I don’t think it’s because she “accepted her death” when that can be open to a different meaning. She literally confessed when opposing Joker and Akechi that she couldn’t stand remembering the truth. Her being Kasumi is not a way to heal from grief. She could’ve viewed it as “Kasumi’s gone. I was the cause and I don’t want to remember that. I’ve always wanted to be like her, to move like her, all of it. I can be rid of my guilt and be the person I’ve always wanted to be. And I can reach the top like we had strived for. As the twin who had everything.” kind of mindset. To her, Kasumi and Sumire cannot coexist, there needs to be only one that remains. While it can be seen that her desire to be Kasumi is of survivor’s guilt and that her sister should’ve been the one who lived, it can also be for herself. She envied Kasumi to an unstable amount, and it’s implied that the two lacked communication about each other’s feelings. She wanted to be Kasumi, to be in her position as the best, to be thought of as such by her peers, and a spotlight dedicated for herself. This can be viewed as the unstable selfish side of Sumire regarding her inferiority and possible resentment towards her sister, because that also stems to jealousy. Her growing issues and struggles not only affects her, but also the people in her life. It isn’t just one defined thing that she believed Kasumi should’ve lived when she has a layer of internal issues that can’t be simplified.

To say her second awakening is about her rebelling against Maruki’s society is off. Including Maruki “changing the world”, because that is a doubtful outcome. Nyx is an exception since she’s an ancient being that’s been around for eons. She was brought up to answer humanity’s wish, death. Which has been their growing desire that’s been built up after thousands of years. And she was to bring the end to the entire world. Yaldaboath and Izanani, on the other hand, are different because their powers only stretch within Inaba and Tokyo. As far as we know anyways, Yaldaboath’s influence has only been over Tokyo. Like how the Dark Hour only happens in Tatsumi Port Island. The Dark Hour happened from the broth of the Kirijo Group’s meddling and failed experiment. Inaba fog and TV world was an experiment by Izanami who pinned P4 Protag and Adachi against each other to see who’d win. Yaldaboath made a bet with Igor over similar circumstances. Him with Akechi, Igor with Joker, and who’d be victorious with their own morals. It sets the reasoning behind the other world’s locations being in these places. It is an improbable chance that Maruki’s abilities are capable of affecting the whole world when he is a human being with a Persona and a Palace. Yaldaboath is the one with the obvious possibility of affecting the world into distortion and twisted desires, he’s a supernatural entity with inhuman abilities. Maruki’s may be amplified by his Persona with his Palace to back him, that doesn’t mean his powers are unlimited. They would reach to the extend of his own location. While Personas are capable and grow by strength, they are not invincible or superiorly godlike. Like taking over the globe. So the idea that Maruki took over the world in comparison to the true antagonists is inconsistent.

Yoshizawa had willingly agreed with his empathetic, yet misguided view that everyone can be happy. She wanted to go back to being Kasumi, not only so she’d forget her cause of death, but also to continue in a happy place of ignorance and position where she was the elder twin who had everything. Maruki’s Actualisation focuses on the deepest desire of a person becomes true. But that is not forced on everyone; aka, Joker and Akechi. Joker is easy to understand, he’s in a place where he is fine where he is, the present. He has no lost loved one, he’s free of his record, he’s made allies, he’s released the chains of fate tied to him, freed the city from corruption, he’s just in a good place where his life was already on track. Akechi has never been one to bow to false happiness and accept deceiving fantasies of having his own mother return or anything like that. It works for them beu see they are a mirror of each other that went down different roads in life. Though Sumire’s second awakening is at least a little more consistent, as she embraces her real identity, it doesn’t align that she’s rebelled against Maruki or rebelled at all. She has no will of rebellion in either awakenings, yet her both awakenings didn’t really matter. Atlus just added it for audience sake. Because deep down she’s already made that choice when returning to the real world and living as herself. Maruki’s powers weren’t forced down her throat, she wished for it and got what she had wanted like the thieves. But she already had this figured out when returning from his Palace. Her sister’s death is still fresh, her internal struggles haven’t gone away, her selfishness is still there, she accepts that Kasumi is dead but hasn’t made peace with it before her mind was blocked for fake Kasumi, something that was by her own choice.

Sumire and fake/real Kasumi had always wanted to be gymnasts as their profession before they even met Joker. And despite absences of confidants like Akechi, she was always the one with the least amount of appearances. Akechi plays an important key role for Joker, they are two similar yet different individuals who go as two sides of the same coin. Yin and Yang. Rivals. Haru only being relevant until Yoshizawa’s return is just one of many script changes by Atlus so that we’re reminded that Yoshizawa is actually supposed to be important.

It’s obvious that Kamoshida and the volleyball team were considered the ‘star’ when volleyball was the most mentioned sports in the school, with track second. And that was the case because of the Kamoshida drama. With the reputation of volleyball being under fire just as the school’s. Yet it is baffling how out of an entire school, Yoshizawa is the well known athlete when there should be absolutely way more recognized athletes that isn’t just defined by the volleyball team who do other sports. It’s a plot hole. It’s like saying she’s the only honour student in school, when Makoto and I’m sure other star students fit the slot, too.

The reason for Joker’s friends not attending the dance is a pretty lazy excuse. A plot hole. Saying that they’ve all unavailable for going home sounds so inconsistent. Especially since almost all the thieves attend the same school, including even Mishima, and with the number of them, at least one would’ve made sense to stay. And of course the dance scene is mandatory, even after a romantic event with someone else, because it’s too literally focus solely on Yoshizawa. That’s the whole reason Atlus made the dance interaction in the first place when it doesn’t happen in vanilla p5 during the festival.

The thing about me going about “Cendrillon doesn’t physically change” is the matter that Sumire, being fake Kasumi, carried the cognition that she was in full belief that she was someone else with a different conscience mindset. Even if Sumire’s mind may have been repressed and kept as a form of subconscious, what fake Kasumi believed in was real to her. As I’ve stated previously, fake Kasumi truly thought that she was the older twin until the reveal. Persona; the physical representation of a psyche, leaves some gaps. Because things like identity crisis, amnesia and other similar situations can affect and influence a person’s psyche greatly. It’s about knowing yourself, knowing who you are and what you stand for and stand by. Personas are foreshadowings and representations of the characters’ stories. They don’t change because the stories fill out all the way to the end.

Another thing, Cendrillon doesn’t fight, period. Not for others, not for a cause, not even for herself. Carmen and Milady are not the same as the fairytale damsel. Also because they are not damsels, they’re femme fatale oriented characters who do more in their stories. They’re fighters, in personality wise and mentally. They do not let men or anyone walk all over them. Carmen’s death goes with the lines that she will always be free, tied down by no one. She’d rather choose to die than be bounded in life. While Milady, made as an antagonist with no remorse for her actions, is executed for her crimes. The two women share many traits like deceit, sneakiness, cleverness, living their lives by their own rules with no regrets, even with the consequences. Cinderella can hardly be considered a Trickster. When, as I’ve mentioned before, aside from her fairy godmother makeover, she does not change in any way apart from her appearance. She didn’t even try to trick anyone when no body but her stepfamily would recognize her, and yet the stepfamily don’t even interact with her at the ball. The only characters (excluding animal friends depending on what version) that do anything in the whole story, are the prince and fairy godmother. The prince just lets her identity slip by him because of physical attraction and “love at first sight”. He’s the reason for how Cinderella ends turns out in her life, he made the decision to test every woman am with the glass slipper and put it into action. That’s really the glory of the slippers; her doing nothing and him doing something by hormonal attraction by first meeting. She can hardly even try to lie because he doesn’t bother getting to know her enough like a rational person when he immediately sees her and instantly decides she’s the one to marry after a dance and a conversation, which wouldn’t be much from a first meeting. She looks just like everyone else at the ball, so of course nobody would notice. This was all the fairy godmother’s doing in the first place.

Remember, Persona 5’s whole theme is about Tricksters, rebellion, and characters who stand by free will. That’s the entire point of the game’s story and symbolism. It’s Persona, all the games in the series have a theme with Personas basing off them.

The romance thing with Haru isn’t really anything new. In vanilla p5, Atlus pushes Joker and Makoto more as a couple, and they even had to act like one for Eiko, and have scenes in Futaba and Sae’s Palaces, or the other girls in a more mild way. But in Royal, it is so blatant that they changed things to ship Yoshizawa instead since she’s the poster girl. Okay

How does getting her father’s glasses have Sumire making her own choice when she was actually Kasumi? Her mindset was from her cognition when that event happened. It wasn’t actually her being herself. Her making her own choice can be the case for any scenario, but one that she’s always made was letting real Kasumi do what she wants. That was a choice. They’re twins, supposedly meant to be close, so she’d had to let her sister make choices for her when she could’ve spoken up about it at any point. And her being ready to leave the responsibility up to Joker can just be seen as consideration since he came all this way for a simple task. That’s normal for politeness and matters. It’s not that significant.

Her friendship with Maruki is normal, it’s not abnormal. But Maruki gives small amounts of manipulation and gaslighting to have her and everyone else under his powers. Maruki, you’re a considerate guy and all, but please NEVER counsel anyone ever again. To say that he’s “just that good of a therapist” by getting her all better is, ludicrous. How does this obvious shift of transition from her turning into fake Kasumi a sign that he’s a amazing at counseling when EVERYONE can see that she’s masquerading as her sister. The school knows this, her club, her teachers, her trainer, for the love of god her parents. You’ve also mentioned this that they do. She even vocally calls herself Kasumi and carries her sister’s ID. It’s clear to everyone, minus Joker and maybe others who don’t attend Shujin, that she is not fine. It’s such a weird contradiction that the people in her life are fully aware that she’s pretending to be her sister and yet act like that’s a completely normal thing when it’s her cognition, by the power of Maruki, that’s actually being affected. I feel like I’m repeating my points again, but parading around as a deceased person who has been in your life, is not how a person healthily recovers and heals from loss. That is not natural or normal. People should know that! Especially her parents! It doesn’t make any sense why it’s going this route other than another plot hole that Atlus made as an excuse so Joker wouldn’t find out about her identity sooner. It’s absurd.

I’ve mentioned the effect of her student status in the other points I’ve made a few times. It’s not about the gossip, the tests, skipping classes when she does not care for any of that unless it involves her personal goals of gymnastics. Otherwise, she doesn’t care for it at all. And I also talked about her processing of her sister’s death.

Which of her stalkings? Because Morgana did not even know about both these cases. Her confessing to tailing them thieves left just as much of shock to him as Futaba and Joker. The same for when she pops up in Maruki’s Palace on her own.

Joker has been the only person to see the blue butterfly. He’s a wildcard, he has the fool arcana, he’s contracted to the velvet room. Of course he can see it. Morgana can as well because he was created by Igor. Velvet room attendants can alter their appearances based off the other games. They are capable of turning invisible to the human eye when going into the human world or be apparent. But they are always viable to their guests. The thieves’ reason for being in the velvet room in the first place was because of Yaldoboath, the false god took them to repress their strive for justice and tried to manipulate Joker for a deal because he cheated on his bet with Igor and infiltrated the velvet room so he’d win. Impersonating Igor and splitting Lavenza so she wouldn’t recognize his true identity. None of that was Igor or Lavenza’s doing. It’s a similar scenario to P3’s the answer. Where it was that SEES reached their conclusion and conviction and were able to follow Aigis to the velvet room, just like the thieves when they reach their resolve and are able to leave their cells. Lavenza even stays in the nurse’s office as Joker recruits everyone to meet, but not all of them appear at once. The entrances to the velvet room are all in various locations between the real world and the supernatural. Public places that can by stumbled upon mind you. And nobody in SEES, Investigation Team, or the Phantom Thieves have been able to actually see the entrance. The Persona-Users. They just think the leaders are lost in thought or daydreaming. And as I’ve stated before, the interaction of the thieves being in the velvet room wasn’t even by the residents’ choice because of Yaldaboath. He infiltrated the velvet room.

The Phantom Thieves were put as a public symbol of inspiration for society to solve their own problems if they could help it. Of course everyone knows that the thieves can’t fix everything and make everyone hunky dory. Maruki’s rules aren’t necessarily by his rules, as the power of his actualisation depends on the person he can affect if they have a wish so deep, like bringing back the dead. It feels like Yoshizawa undermines the meaning of solving one’s own problems when there are times solving things on your own just isn’t enough.

That’s the thing with Sumire on the Marinette similarities. They get no consequences from the result of their actions, it’s excused and passed off, or the repercussions are light. While Sumire gets self confidence, no matter the little amount of time it happened, she goes back to being the same character as we saw her in the beginning. And wardrobe and hair are a big part of visual representation on characters. Her hair goes back into a ponytail with the red bow, and her glasses are gone. She looks exactly the same as when Joker first meets her in the ending. Everything’s the same. Just like her thief attire where she had truly sought for herself to be her sister. There’s nothing that differentiates them apart. Regarding Marinette, most of my opinions over her are similar to Youtuber Cyrus the Great’s analysis videos on the show if you’re curious. He’s pretty detailed and makes interesting notes about her and the cast.

[yusuke-of-valla]

Surrealism

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Epilogue: Impressionism

Impressionism - an art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, unusual visual angles, and inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience

The end of the semester art show is rather busy all things considered. For students that aren’t graduating, it’s usually just parents and some family friends who attend to look at their work, plus some recruiters and alumni.

Even taking into account the rowdiness of the Phantom Thieves, it’s still crowded with art critics and people, and Yusuke can’t help but wonder if this is Kawanabe’s doing, despite Yusuke refusing his help.

Ren was kind enough to lend Yusuke Desire and Hope for the exhibition, something he had not considered when gifting it to Ren as a going away present. 

Yusuke didn’t need to display it— by the end of the semester he’d managed to finish more than enough pieces for his grade— but it felt right to have the piece about his friends at the center of his display.

“Not bad, Kitagawa,” Ms. Nishimura says from behind him. “In truth, I didn’t expect you to still be here. The shift in your work is drastic, did something happen?”

Yusuke smiles. “I simply reached an epiphany about what I wanted to do. I even incorporated some of your advice about looking into other careers. While I don’t plan on giving up on art, I’ve been looking into architectural design, culinary plating, even web design elements to draw inspiration from.” 

Futaba’s crash course on designing a website had been excruciating and nearly destroyed their friendship (along with Futaba’s hard drive), but it was worth it for the insight into web design. Yusuke was never one for minimalism, but the understanding of how colors looked through a screen versus on paper led to a weekend experimenting with various types of inks and printing. He’s particularly proud of the silkscreen piece that ended up in the display.

Ms. Nishimura doesn’t look impressed.

“Consistency is key for a professional, as well as reputation. Keep that in mind. The school will not afford you any future mistakes, Kitagawa.”

Before Yusuke can say anything, Haru glides over, elegant as ever. “See, this is what I was telling you about!” she says to the man next to her. “I think it would be perfect for our offices.”

Ms. Nishimura stiffens, and moves on to the next display. Yusuke pulls Haru aside.

“You didn’t have to do that,” he whispers.

“Do what? Takakura-san was looking for new decorations for our regional office in Hokkaido, I was going to recommend your work anyway. If it stopped your teacher from giving you a hard time, all the better.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Hey! Man of the hour!” Ryuji shouts, as the rest of the Phantom Thieves come back, having raided the snack table. “We were thinking of dinner after this to celebrate, where do you want to go?”

“Leblanc,” Yusuke says instantly.

“Really? C’mon Ren came all this way to visit, we’re all together, and you want to go to Leblanc and not someplace fancy?”

“Well I don’t want curry,” Yusuke says. “I want to make a hot pot.”

“You seriously want to cook your celebration dinner?” Futaba asks. “Just when I think I have you figured out, Inari.”

“No, I get it,” Ren says. “It’s like when you first joined the team.”

Yusuke nods. “I’ve come a long way since that. If we’re celebrating anything, I want to celebrate that. Plus, it also seems fitting to celebrate displaying an artwork where my mother’s own work is.”

Ann pats him on the back. “Hot pot at Leblanc it is!”

As they head towards the doors, Yusuke hangs back to look at his display one last time. It’s almost perfect, but he still has work to do.

It won’t really be complete until the other pupils’ works are there too.